Narrative Writing

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Narrative Writing

• Some Notes
• By Brian Yablon

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What is Narration?

• Narration means telling a story, or a series of
  stories for a purpose.

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The Communication Connection

• There are always three parts to communication
• The creator (writer, songwriter, playwright,
  photographer, sculptor, painter, etc.)
• The creation (text, song, sculpture, play, movie,
  etc.)
• The receiver (reader, listener, viewer)

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How They Fit Together

• The creator (writer) manipulates the creation
  (text) in order to influence, or cause the
  desired reaction from, the receiver (the reader).
• So, if you want to make someone laugh, write a
  funny story.
• If you want someone to feel, create an emotional
  song, etc.

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What Can Narratives Do?

• Help persuade readers by telling a compelling
  story.
• Help define an idea by telling an exemplary
  story.
• Show similarities or differences with
  comparison-contrast.

• Help show effects or causes by sharing a dramatic
  account of events or situations.
• Entertain.
• Inform by telling what happened.

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What to do First?

• Decide upon a purpose -- what effect do you want
  to have on the reader?
• Decide on an audience -- to whom are you telling
  your story?

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Figure out the Obstacles

• All stories have one or more of the following
• Crisis
• Conflict
• Obstacle
• Decision
• problem

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Types of Conflicts

• Internal conflicts
• Decisions that characters need to make

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Other types of conflicts

• External conflicts
• Character versus character, such as two people
  competing for a job or in an argument
• Character versus something LARGE, such as
  society, God, nature, tradition

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Figure out the Setting

• Settings include
• Time (of day, week,, month, season, year, decade,
  century, era)

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Location, Location, Location

• Location (a spot, in a room, in a house, on a
  block, in a neighborhood, in a city, in a state,
  in a country, on a planet)

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Think about Events

• Narratives focus on actions.
• Decide on which actions you will focus in order
  to achieve your desired effect.

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Create Interesting Characters

• Readers care about characters more than any other
  part of a story.
• Make them interesting and memorable.

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Consider Perspective

• There are three choices of narrative perspective
  to embrace
• First person
• Second person
• Third person

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First Person Point of View

• When using first person point of view, the
  narrator tells his/her story and uses I, and
  me as the narrative stance.
• The narrator is part of the story and telling it
  from his/her perspective.

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Second Person Point of View

• Here, the narrator is directly interacting with
  the reader, and uses the word you as the
  narrative stance.
• This is used almost exclusively when giving
  instructions.

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Third Person Point of View

• Here, the narrator is observing the story and is
  not part of it.
• He/she uses words such as he, she, they,
  them, and it.

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Types of Third Person P.O.V.

• Omniscient
• The narrator knows the actions, thoughts, and
  feelings of all the characters.
• Limited Omniscient
• The narrator knows only the thoughts and feelings
  of a single character but may know the actions of
  all other characters.

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More on Perspectives

• Once you choose a narrative perspective, stick
  with it -- switching back and forth between
  perspectives almost always confuses the reader.

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Consider organization

• Make your narrative clear and easy to follow.

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Chronological

• This is the most common way to organize your
  story.
• Beginning, middle, end.
• Morning, noon, night.
• Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.
• This is simple and straightforward.

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Flashbacks

• In a flashback, the story starts in the middle of
  the action.
• Then, the narrator recounts images, or memories,
  of the past -- to explain how the characters got
  to their present state of affairs.

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Flash-Forwards

• A flash-forward is a variation on a flashback.
• The story begins almost at the end of the action,
  then retraces the steps leading to that point,
  then finishes up the story.

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Dont confuse the Reader

• Remember, you can be complicated, but you must
  always be clear to your reader.
• If your reader cannot follow your story, then the
  story is worthless.

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So What?

• Always write a story that has meaning for you.
• Butyou need to convey the importance of your
  story to your reader.
• Story-telling is a shared experience.

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Be aware of Language.

• Your choice of words creates a tone.
• Be aware of the tone you create and the words you
  choose to use to create it.

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The Grammar Police

• Make sure that you avoid errors.
• You want readers to pay attention to your story,
  not the annoying errors made in telling that
  story.

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Good Words

• Always use vivid, concrete, specific, interesting
  words.
• Get rid of lifeless words that dont really say
  anything.

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Use Dialogue

• Its always interesting to hear people speak,
  even if theyre only speaking to themselves.
• Always try to include dialogue.

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So, take a seat and relax
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And lets tell a story